Our Dogs

Foundation

"Cinder"

Cinder came to our home June 30, 1998. I considered her a dog in need of a
new home, but our intention had not been to keep her. While I was pleased
with many of her physical attributes, she showed no "enthusiasm" for anything,
including food, toys, people or her environment. She has shown dramatic
improvement in some areas, and very little in others. Cinder has certainly
taught me that temperament, working ability, and personality are distinctly
different concepts.

Cinder is quite unusual for a Tervuren, as she carries a very strong working
pedigree based on excellent French Ringsport lines. She is tightly linebred
on Working CH Rodrigue des Pierres de Chalin, FR3, and his sire, Working CH
Marlo de la Fecht FR3.

Cinder has shown excellent health. She has had no known seizures,
no skin problems or allergies, and no other sensitivities. Unfortunately, very
little is known about her parents or her littermates in terms of health.

Structure and Overall Appearance:
Cinder possesses a lovely, clean head with
parallel planes and a pretty expression. She has nicely set ears of a good
shape and size. She has an excellent black mask. Her color is a "cream",
otherwise known as Grey. She has a nicely placed shoulder, and is balanced
front and rear. She has a perfect croup and tail set with proper length. Her
bone is in proportion to her size. She has smooth movement from the side.
Cinder is a relatively small bitch at 21" tall and 40 pounds.

Temperament:
It is difficult to determine Cinder's "genetic"
temperament at this time, as she has spent most of her life in a kennel with
relatively little stimulation or socialization. Since arriving, she has
become more animated and expressive,and she continues to make obvious progress.
She has become very fond of food, but still pays no attention to toys.

When Cinder arrived, she was frightened of people and extremely submissive.
At this time, she has become very willing to approach people, either solicited
or unsolicited, in the hopes of getting either attention or a snack. While she
has become fairly social towards friendly strangers, she still retains some
submissive behaviors.

She works hard not to displease us; more so than either of our other dogs. I
anticipate earning the lower level obedience titles (BH, CD) without much difficulty.

Cinder has begun training in a number of sports, and has surprised everyone with
her progress. At first, Cinder was allowed to watch protection from the sidelines,
where she was oblivious to the action for the first three months she was here.
Things changed rapidly after that, when suddenly one day she began barking at
the agitator on the field, and clearly displayed her interest in participating.

Cinder hasn't looked back. While working in protection, she is a strong and powerful
small bitch who takes protection work seriously. Cinder throws herself into the
sleeve and bites hard and full with great energy and intensity. She works most
strongly in defense, and is just beginning to recognize prey behavior. Cinder
thrives on very strong threat. She is showing herself to be a calm and methodical
tracking dog as well.

The stark contrast between Cinder's "working" and "non-working" temperament have
led me to conclude that her first few years in a kennel have severely affected
her normal daily interactions with the world. On the field, her "working pedigree"
is most obviously evident.

Accomplishments:
Cinder competed for PT (Pre-trial) title on September 19, 1998
at the Redwood Belgian Tervuren Fanciers Test in Pescadero, California. Cinder
had first been exposed to sheep five weeks earlier, and had only been able to train
on occasional weekends since then. Another herding enthusiast felt she had enough
natural talent that she could pass her PT without significant exposure, so I
skipped the HT altogether and signed her up for the PT after her second herding
lesson.

Cinder did not disappoint me. She did an excellent job completing the course,
keeping her sheep under control and working steadily and smoothly.